Why YFC?

This past week I spent time with our Youth for Christ team in Seattle, Washington. Sixty minutes of sharing, sometimes through tears, reminded me of the importance of our work in communities across this country, and indeed, around the world. Twenty-four hours later I received the following thoughts from Ajith Fernando, our esteemed national director in Sri Lanka. His insights project a light that illuminate and inspire…People in some of the nations that I minister in sometimes tell me something like this:

“Youth for Christ had a great ministry a generation ago, but now it has really gone down.” But when I observe the Youth for Christ (YFC) ministries in many of the countries, I am amazed at what they are doing. They are in slums rescuing youth from drugs, gangs and a life without hope. They are giving unwed mothers a place to recover from the bad choices they made. They are on the streets trying to make contact with aimless youth so that they could hear the gospel. They are in public schools teaching values that are now considered outmoded by many. The list could go on and on.

The special thing about these ministries is that these youth are getting a chance to hear the life-changing gospel of the Lord Jesus. Many youth once considered a nuisance in society or hopeless are being rescued from hell and becoming citizens of the everlasting kingdom which culminates in glory in heaven!

Then why do people say that the ministry has really gone down? Many years ago YFC was a rallying point for young Christians with some church background. Parents were so grateful that they were given vital activities that sent them in the direction of vibrant Christianity. Now local churches have taken on that role. Praise God! That is the way it should be. So YFC has moved away from the spectacular programmes which attracted large numbers of Christian-background youth. Many of its programmes are now trying to reach totally unreached youth.

One reason for the perception that the ministry has gone down is that when one works with the unreached, the reached do not see them at work.

I want to ask another question. Could the negative evaluation be because reaching the unreached is not a passion among Christians? Do Christians assess significance on ministries based on how much Christians are blessed by them?

In the history of missions some of the most brilliant people in the church gave themselves to the task of reaching the unreached. Faithfulness and obedience breed a brand of heroism that is measured by doing great things when no one thinks that what is being done is great.

In the meantime, billions of people for whom the gospel of Jesus Christ is addressed are headed for a Christless eternity. That is an urgent situation—much more urgent than the many needs that the world is (legitimately) getting alarmed about and responding with great generosity.

I am writing with the aim of reminding you that we must view with a sense of urgency the things that the Bible considers as urgent. The fact that the Great Commission is presented six (maybe seven {Acts 10:42}) times in the records of the last few weeks of Jesus’ stay on earth must lead us to the conclusion that proclaiming the gospel to the unreached is indeed very important.

May our hearts burn with the things that burned in the hearts of the writers of the Bible!

From the pen of my brother Ajith – to the heart of those who ache for the least and the lost. Be of great courage – you are doing the work of our King.